MPR Speaker Highlights Mismanagement and Student Crisis in Islamic Boarding Schools

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Ahmad Muzani, Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) of the Republic of Indonesia, has highlighted a number of crucial problems currently besetting Islamic boarding school educational institutions, ranging from a human resources crisis to issues of mismanagement.

“Various pondok pesantren are now experiencing all sorts of problems. There are funding shortfalls, there is mismanagement, there are human resources quality issues, and in many pesantren there is even a shortage of students,” he said at the 8th Indonesian Muslim Congress (KUII) in Jakarta on Friday.

Muzani went on to explain that developing the human resources of the Muslim community currently faces highly complex challenges, including the threat of a shortage of hundreds of thousands of teaching staff.

To overcome the crisis engulfing these Islamic educational institutions, he stressed that the key is to set aside differences of opinion and forge brotherhood, unity and mutual cooperation among the components of the Muslim community.

Muzani believes that if Muslims unite, however large the problems in the pesantren education sector may be, they can be resolved properly.

“The human resources problem that is being considered now — for example, the reported shortage of up to 550,000 teachers — can be resolved if we are united,” said Ahmad Muzani.

Recognising the vital role of religious educational institutions in shaping the nation’s character, the Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Anwar Iskandar, also emphasised the importance of strengthening moral character within the current education system.

Anwar reminded that future generations must truly be guided by the principles of akhlakul karimah (noble character). He assessed that human resources development oriented solely towards academic intelligence will not be able to safeguard the nation’s future.

“This nation will be destroyed, no matter how advanced our technology, our intelligence or our excellence in various fields, if there is no care for the importance of devotion to God and akhlakul karimah,” said Anwar Iskandar.